Dreadtober Finale....

Well, this is lovely. I can't get photos to load using the conventional Blogger tool, I have to go three steps around to Google photos. (have a better solution? Drop me a line) God help me. At least they're (mostly) watermarked, and if you ever want to see any golden oldies, they're on my hard drive somewhere.

Anyway, thanks to being ill, I managed to finish Venerable Brother Antilocus early, which means I can get back to painting the rest of his Deathwatch Brethren. He ended up being rather large, and turning into a bit of a vignette piece, as you can see. 

How big? Pretty big. I'm sure if I straighten the recut Calth Contemptor on the right, they'd they the same size. He definitely towers over Ole'Boxy there on the left. It struck me when I took this that I haven't shot the Calth set properly, but you all have seen Ultramarines before, and although 30 of them is a sight I don't want to bore you. (I do like the Terminator models, though. Maybe I'll get a set of troopers so I can use the Lightning Claw bits...)

Under all those bits is the old Contemptor Multi-Melta arm, which gained a magnet so I could swap weapons in and out. This required a bit of cutting, but it was all worthwhile. I debated scatchbuilding (or just buying) a set of Stormcannon and Melta-Lance and/or siege drill arms (especially since the Imperial Fists are into sieges) but decided to stay with the standard kit for the time being. 

His alternate weapon options, magnetized to click into place when needed. They also add an extra degree of posability. My apologies for the photo hotspots. Should've turned the model slightly more (sigh). 

I always thought the articulated hand made the boxy dread look rather apelike, but now that he has proper legs, it's wonderful. I debated using the arms from the Votoms kit the legs came from, but finding adequate cauldrons proved daunting, and the test fitting looked a little contrived. 

His back is a little underwhelming. I didn't want to overdo the gold everywhere. Yes, I know, there are parts lines on his legs. Shame on me for not green stuffing and sanding. I blame the diverticulitis. 

Large bases demand something extra, I think. This Grot is hoping Antilocus will just pass him by without stomping on him but you can guess what's going to happen next. The little fellow came with a Grenadier Models orc or ogre (I forget which), and sharp eyes will recognize the plastic bit from the Assassinorum set (they didn't want your shiny new Callidus to get cover saves). The two bits fit together quite well, so instead of using him for an objective marker, I plugged them in here to (literally) give the model a little character.

Next time, his little brethren....

Dreadtober Progress...

Oho, what's this? He's now an Imperial Fist....

....who's about to punt some poor snotling into next week.

Not sure I like how his chest armor is turning out, though. What do you all think?

Dreadtober: Assembly....

My projects tend to snowball along at an intuitive pace; I pick something up and work at it till it's done or I'm stuck. This fellow flew together rather rapidly, probably because I've been wanting to do this for a long time: 

My apologies for the deep shadow; rest assured there's nothing especially interesting going on in his waist area; just a run of the mill extra long scroll. Once it's all painted I'll light it better, but these photos really are just to show progress. 

 

I didn't do much to the back because frankly, I didn't think it needed it. Those mold lines could do with some sanding down, I suppose. I though of doing some rivets to the back of the cobbled-together right arm, but then, he's not especially rivet-heavy. 

Speaking of that arm, it started life as a Contemptor multi-melta arm from the Calth boxed set. Of course, it didn't match the left arm from the standard dread kit, so I built it up with the sawed-off top of the lascannon and some plasticard. The weapons are all magnetized, of course, but here's what I consider his "main" one. Canonically the DW dread has a plasma cannon but of course, canonically he's not an almost-Leviathan either.

Nihilius' canonical weapon in the DW boxed set, but of course, this Dread isn't Nihilius. I should give him a name and a "home" Space Marine Chapter. What do you think, folks, does he look like an Imperial Fist? A Dark Angel? A Blood Angel? Those are the icons I have from a drop pod kit, by the way. I have a Space Wolf icon as well, but he lacks the Fenrisian ornamentation. Anyway, I have enough Space Wolves among the Deathwatch rank-n-file. Pics of those are coming soon, but the DW infantry has been sidelined while I work on this fellow. 

The multi-melta from the Contemptor arm. Underwhelming, isn't it? I might just buy a set of actual Leviathan weapons (oooh, that stormcannon) but they might be too huge for this kit. I didn't do the assault cannon because frankly, it's just too little gun for this beast. A Contemptor-sized one, maybe. Is anyone else surprised that the DW dreads didn't get twin-linked shot cannons, especially considering their infantry can carry loads of them? Even the Blood Angels dread sports one. I also noticed you can't buy "Rifleman" dreads with two twin-linked autocannons or lascannons, either, and certainly not AA "Mortis" variants with their radar arrays.  That DW codex was very rushed and not well thought out. 

Here's his left arm, by the way. Nothing really to see here. They could've gone the extra mile and made a special Deathwatch shoulder pad for it, but they didn't, more's the pity. Both arms are removable and semo-posable, so in the future I might fit him with a different loadout, but we'll see. Some sanding, finishing, and painting to come this week. (I think I'm kind of ahead of schedule, now). 

Dreadtober!

Because I need to get my Deathwatch Dread up and running, I've decided to keep motivated by participating in the Dreadtober event over at Broken Paintbrush. In case you don't know (and I didn't, so I missed last year) it's a non-competition event whereby you set goals and work on a Dreadnought-sized (all the way up to Knight!) model, with weekly goals and an exhibition at the end. 

Brother Nameless will be a pseudo-Leviathan type Dread, owing to some Votoms parts (well, mainly legs) in my bits box and a desire to not just have a black stompy box. The theme of the Deathwatch seems to be "Every one a character", so I'm determined to make no exception for their biggest member. The end result will probably still be smaller than a Contemptor, but taller and hopefully brawnier than the standard stompy box. While I'd like magnetized arms, Contemptor-sized ones with elbows might visibly sag. 

I'm a week behind (and all the arm bits with elbows are in other countries, according to eBay) but let's get cracking anyway.